Knights of The Old Republic

Episode 108

1

APR/17

The wounded heroes chase after Padawan Lavhan Tala, who has had at least a minute head start. The blast doors are slightly ajar. Inside they find two dead Soldiers and hear blaster fire down a L-shaped corridor. Around the corner, they see Tala standing over one dead soldier and just slaying another one.

At the end of the corridor is a heavy duty and locked door. As Kal gets to work on getting it open, blast shielding window ports on the right side of the corridor lowers from the inside. Without obstructions, the heroes can now see what’s inside. It’s a large thermal chamber 140m by 160m. Across is a lava-fall pouring down. A transport is in the room and Mecrosa foot soldiers are loading crates on board. But the most eye-catching thing in the figure approaching the glass.

Seeing Volkhv behind the plas-glass, his icy blue eyes stare unblinking and as if into your soul. After an absurd amount of time without blinking, a fine puff of mist sprays from the eye corners of his mask directly into his eyes. Tala tells Kelborn to shoot him, but Kelborn knows a shot won’t penetrate the pas-glass. Tala uses the force and attempts to TK hold the Darksider, but he counters with his own power breaking her hold and slamming her against the wall. This is the first time they have seen a member of the Mecrosa Order us TK. With the transport, fully loaded Volkhv boards the vessel. Kal gets the doors open, but it’s too late and the ship takes off. The heroes search the place, but only find some empty data chip cases commonly used for map chips. They don’t find another ship, but some smashed coms equipment is repaired enough to tall Capt. Rohig to pick them up. His first question is if they retrieved the stolen Secretum Secretorum. Jax is embarrassed to report it’s gone.

The heroes join Hi-Lord Praxum, Master Shi-Leer and Pelagia historian Lord Afian Carrol. It’s discussed that the Mecrosa’s quest to find the Sith Lords tomb may not be over. Lord Carrol has a mostly complete copy of House Pelagia’s Secretum Secretorum. He reveals the name of the dead Sith Lord is Saalo Morn. It is also revealed that Shi-Leer has only heard about one true physical resurrection in the last 1,000 years and it was only performed by the most powerful of cadre of Sith users and a tremendous amount of ritual and sacrifice. This would be beyond the MO’s abilities. It’s more likely they seek some form of knowledge from his tomb. It’s agreed they need to find the tomb before the Mecrosa Order does. To know this, they’ll need access to more books as previously mentioned, each holds clues to the tomb’s location. Three books could point someone in the right direction and find it with trial and error, but four books would likely do it. Hi-Lord Praxum and Jedi Master Shi-Leer will start contacting the other six houses and try to get access to these books, but it is incredibly delicate, even the mention of it will stir up bad blood and old wounds. The severely injured Jax and Capt. Nora go to the Kolto Baths.

While Shi-Leer and Praxum work on politics for the other houses to do the right thing Lord Gregor Turnell hires Kelborn and Zanna to steal two Secretum Secretorum books from House Mecetti. This house actually has three books. During the cleansing of the nine houses Mecetti took House Barong and House Melissus’s books when they destroyed and absorbed those two houses. Lord Turnell feels they should never have been allowed to keep them. He offers the two mercs 15,000 credits for the job, and another 15,000 for their silence. This job can’t be traced back to House Pelagia and if it doesn’t then the blame will be transferred to Senator Cana. Also, high Nobles, especially lords should not be killed. It’s a matter of honor and retaliation. How to find the books Lord Turnell believes they’ll be on the Mecetti Thrown world Obulette and an old Privy Council Member Lord Samuel Drake will likely know where the books are kept. They accept. After the meeting, Tala is found having been listening to the whole offer. Kelborn and Zanna offer her to come along so she doesn’t tell anyone. With the restrictions on killing Kelborn decided that they may need some extra muscle to over whelm with force. They need someone that is close by and available so they can complete the mission before Corraun is up on his feet again.

They find a merc for hire in the area on planet Aleron which is in the Freeworld sector of Tapani. She is just finishing up a job there and will meet tonight in the Drill Bits Cantina to discuss the details. They take Zanna’s “borrowed” transport originally called the “Ore Pile III”. Zanna has switched records on it with a ship not reported stolen called the “Parcel Spice”.

Aleron is a smog-covered planet in Tapani sector’s Freeworld Territory. It has domed canyon cities and underground cities. It’s crust and mantle are rich in valuable minerals and ores. Tala leaves her jedi robes behind and dresses like a Tapanian. There is a discussion about a code name for her and negotiated down to “Dash”. The Drill Bits Cantina is a large bar that has stages for dancing girls at night. The current clientele is a good mix of unsavory transport jockeys and roughneck miners. In a corner booth is the Ubese merc Cyla Zout sitting with an old AR6-48 Security Droid. The heroes quickly discover the droid translates for her. Cyla and 48 had just completed a job to blow up speeders belonging to the Blaster-Face gang. This gang targets Radian ore shipments during transport. A local security firm called Alter-Sec hired Cyla to take out their speeders so Alter-Sec can hold onto the contract while they staff up after a recent bloody attack.

In a hurry to leave with work, Cyla takes the job for 5,000 credits even without hearing what the assignment is. The trio step away to the bar to discuss how much info to share with the mercs. Suddenly the blaster-face gang enters the cantina. The leader and name sake of the gang approaches Cyla’s booth. He is accompanied by his human women Bella. The two make an interesting pair. Blaster-face is a tall and powerful Weequay with the entire right side of his face melted like candle wax. Where Bella is a gorgeous and wild female wearing a bra made from a suit of heavy armor. It’s not a long talk before Cyla shots first and battle breaks out. Outnumbered 12 to 2 Zanna offers for her team to join in, but at a cost of 2,000 credits. Cyla and 48 agree.

Dash not wanting to reveal she is a Jedi picks up a blaster pistol and blasts away trying to keep up with as many downed gangers has Kelborn is dropping. AR6-48 proves to be very capable with his carbine. After the last ganger falls they decide to get out of there. The view sees sec forces arrive and find that blaster-Face and Bella have survived.

The new Mercs decide to take their own Star Ship “The Ricochet” and meet their clients on the Mecetti throne world Obulette. On the way there while switching hyperspace vectors at a crossroads of the Leozi Route (close to a giant planetoid with too much gravity, they have to sub-light speed around it). Coming around the planetoid are Pirates who scanned the ship’s fake records and finds it to be a valuable spice hauler. The Pirate Gibis tells them to surrender and follow their directions down to the planet. Kelborn tries to explain they don’t have an Spice, but Gibis doesn’t believe them. With a total of 12 starfighters they decide to surrender and show them there really isn’t any spices to take. Cyla over coms asks if they want help it’ll cost 5,000 credits. Kelborn and Zanna tell them no and they head to the planet’s surface. Despite this Cyla shadows them to the planet and over coms offers to help one more time. The price and answer is the same.

Gibis surrounds the transport with 24 pirates and has the heroes drop their weapons while sending in his men to search. All the while Dash, Zanna and Kelborn are openly talking in front of their Klantoonie guard about how it would be faster to just kill all of the pirates. The search results in no spice, but they decide to still take the transport. Dash ignites her light saber shocking the lowly pirates and a fight breaks out. Meanwhile over head The Ricochet is spotted and taken for a security detail and attacked. They do well until their only turret is disabled. Cyla races towards the planets canyons to lose their pursuers. AR6 scans ahead for difficult paths that Cyla can pilot it through, but the lessor skilled can’t. By the time they exit the canyon all pirate fighters are either destroyed against the canyon walls or damaged enough to pull out and lose pursuit.

Dash, Zanna and Kelborn make short work of the 24 pirates. The last one remaining is their original Klantoonie guard who surrenders. The heroes decide to leave the stolen transport and to steal their star fighters. Kelborn uses some reverse psychology on “Dash” to pass up the Z-10 for a non-shielded Star Dart.

Both teams reach Obulette. It was in perpetual twilight due to its dim red star and 10 moons. Its orbital shipyards are smaller than those of other sectors like Tallaan, but nonetheless successful. Most of the planet is covered in cities, ash-colored rock, and shallow seas. Asking around they learn Lord Samuel Drake is an old man who lives in a nice mansion in the City Faulktac. His only heirs are his two grandchildren Wulfgred and Tannis. It’s also learned he is a patron of the arts especially the opera. The team quickly gets to work on a plan to kidnap him after he attends tomorrow night’s opera premier of The Soaring Mecetti. Zanna is working on getting tickets while Kelborn searches for a place to take Lord Drake once captured for interrogation. Dash is task with staking out Drake’s manor house.

Just as Zanna, Kelborn, Cyla and AR6 are meeting to present their results of their research they receive a call from Dash who says she has Lord Drake captured and tied up in his basement and to come over immediately. With a shake of their heads they toss away all of their plans and go to the manor house. Sure enough Dash was impatient and took an available opportunity to capture the old man on her own. Lord Drake proves to be a tough character under threats, but when Kelborn threatens to kill both of his grandsons and end his line the old Lord gives in. He doesn’t have the House Barong and House Melissus Secretum Secretorum, but he knows who does. They are being held at the cliff side estate of House Lord Gresham Hutson. He is a long-standing member of the Privy council and is known to be paranoid. His only living male heir while still a toddler was kidnapped 17 years ago to be held for ransom, but died accidently. His servants were bribed. This turned him cruel and mistrusting of his staff, which is rotated out and screened often. His wife Helda went mad after losing so many still born children trying to provide an heir. His estate on Obulette is known for its quality security systems.

The heroes keep Lord Drake and his house staff tied up long enough to break into Lord Hutson and retrieve the books, hopefully. The cliff side estate of Lord Hutson is formidable . After some surveillance, its decided that Kelborn will swim to and then climb up the Sea Tower behind the estate where a AA turret is set up. Once cleared of guards the others will drive up in a stolen boat and then as a group sneak into the estate proper. Once reaching the top of the sea tower Kelborn activates his short-range coms jammer, but finds two advance security droids. He attempts to take them out quickly, but his knocked off the tower and falls 80-feet to the water, which ends the jamming. Dash pilots the boat on a course to pick up Kelborn. From a control center inside a silhouetted droid activates the houses’ security systems and call for House Mecetti Security Force, but due to its remote location it’ll take 2 minutes for them to arrive.